Strong westerly winds are being felt across St George and Sutherland Shire today with gusts in excess of 70km/h recorded in some areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds.
The bureau says the vigorous westerlies were in the wake of a cold front, which was being reinforced by a trough passing to the south.
Damaging winds averaging 35 to 75km/h, with peak gusts reaching around 80km/h, are being felt across the region.
A westerly wind gust of 76km/h was recorded in Kurnell at 12.06pm, while 76km/h gusts were also felt at Sydney Airport at 12.48pm.
Elsewhere, wind gusts of 63km/h and 67km/h have been recorded at Lucas Heights and Canterbury respectively.
Winds are expected to ease later on Tuesday afternoon.
The strong winds have also made it feel much colder than it appears outside, with the apparent temperature across the region stuck in single digits so far today.
At 1.45pm, the air temperature at Lucas Heights was 14.8 degrees. However, the apparent temperature – which takes into account wind chill – was just 5 degrees according to Bureau of Meteorology figures.
On the coast at Sydney Airport and Kurnell at the same time, the apparent temperature was 3.8 degrees, despite the air temperature being 16.6 degrees.
